Power for the Future
by ThisRedCat
Summary: A collection of soft stories set in the future of Tiger & Bunny. There will be retired Heroes, new Heroes, babies, and grandbabies. One Hero in particular will be a proud Grandfather.


**Power for the Future**

This will be a collection of short stories set in the future of Tiger & Bunny. You can expect light, comical, soft stories based on the characters and their families. Some Heroes will be retired while others will just be starting out, and some may be starting their own families. One Hero in particular will be a grandfather. Read the summary in each chapter to know which characters the chapter will focus on. Thank you!

**Summary: **Kaede has some big news for her husband and meets him in front of the Apollon Media building.

* * *

"What happened to the kitty's face, mommy?"

Kaede stops and follows her daughter's gaze up towards the top of the Apollon Media Building, where the large statue of a griffon rests, with a fairly big chunk of its muzzle missing. She smiles to herself, remembering very clearly what had happened on that day years ago. The battle of her life. "Your dad happened." she answers proudly, squeezing her little girl's hand gently.

Hikari's eyes grew wide, her mouth falling open as she continued to stare up at the griffon in awe. "_Daddy _did that?" she whispered quietly. Kaede thought it was adorable to see how impressed her daughter was, and to be honest, she couldn't blame the kid. If only her husband were here right now, no doubt he'd feel on top of the world with the way her eyes lit up at seeing the handiwork of her father.

As for the statue itself... No one wished to repair the damage that had been done. Rather than repair the lion's face, Sternbild had chosen to leave it as is, to be a reminder of the day they'd almost lost everything. Nothing could have prepared them for the cruelty and hunger for power of _that man._

Kaede couldn't stop herself from thinking back to that day... In a strange way, she was also thankful because it had brought her closer to the man she would one day share her life with.

_Tony..._

* * *

(Years ago)

Kaede was already in her battlesuit, a design that was similar to that of her father's when he had been the hero Wild Tiger, though a portion of her breasts and thighs were exposed without the armor for ratings. It could've been worse, she tells herself. And just as her father had done, Kaede wore a mask over her eyes to conceal her identity at all times while she worked. Kotetsu had proudly passed it on to her the day she'd graduated from Hero Academy. Little did her dad know that she'd already "borrowed" one of his masks long ago. Still, she had cried all the same when he'd given it to her on that day.

Another graduate from Hero Academy stood at her side, a man she'd come to trust and genuinely care for, even if they were competing for points most of the time. They had met before the Academy actually. Yes, Tony here had nearly gotten her killed when he attacked the ice rink she'd been performing at when she was just a young girl. But she didn't like to bring that up. Much.

His voice suddenly broke through her thoughts. "So, after this... Why don't we go out to dinner?"

Kaede gave him a questioning look, as if he'd gone mad. "Now really isn't the time to be thinking about dinner. We've got to focus on Ophiuchus."

_Ophiuchus._ The name of the man that threatened to break Sternbild apart from the depths of its very heart, taking away the people's will to fight. With his silver tongue, he'd already convinced half of the city that their fate was to die, to become a part of him. No one completely understood his NEXT powers yet, and they didn't exactly have the time to try and get a better understanding of them either. He had taken the lives of many already, leaving no trace of remains as if he'd devoured his victims whole.

Kaede shuddered.

"I agree." Tony cleared his throat, looking at her more seriously. "Points and sponsors don't matter anymore. That bastard has to be stopped. Or else he'll kill us all... and do it with a smile."

"So then, why are you trying to schedule a date?" She didn't meet his eyes as she asked the question, choosing to look off to the side instead. She wasn't sure she was ready to hear the answer to that question just yet. Especially now of all times. But it had passed her lips nonetheless.

"Because I- ... I want to have something to look forward to when this is all over." He paused, making Kaede even more nervous, before he went on in a smaller voice. "I know you can feel it, too. Everything is going to change after this fight."

"Tony..." She didn't want to hear this. Not now. But damn him, he just kept on going. He must have been preparing for this.

"Kaede, I'm sorry I didn't ask you sooner." He finally had her looking into his eyes and it encouraged him to reach for her hand. His fingers closed tightly around hers. "I kept thinking I had plenty of time. 'Maybe after this season.' I'd tell myself. 'I'm going to ask this amazing woman to have dinner with me after this season.' But then Ophiuchus showed up and turned everything around. And now-"

He was cut off when Kaede suddenly jerked her hand away. For a split second there was panic in Tony's eyes, until he realized her hands were on either side of his face, gently pulling him closer until their lips met. There was a little voice in the back of Kaede's mind, cheering her on, because this _really _wasn't like her. But the squeek Tony had just made was kind of cute and... Oh, it felt so nice. So nice to finally shut the man up for once, and do it in a way that was pleasant for the both of them.

To her surprise, and relief, he was speechless when she finally pulled away, her fingers brushing down his neck as he slowly straightened up. She felt a little proud of the deep red staining his cheeks and ears.

Kaede was suddenly feeling fond of the idea of having dinner later. Because they were definitely going to beat Ophiuchus, they just _had _to.

"Where should we go out to eat?" Kaede asked finally. She was smiling up at him.

"Huh?" Tony's voice still sounded a little higher than usual as he was trying to will himself to stop blushing. Because he wasn't a damn teenager anymore, and the woman he'd admired for years had just asked him a question and he should say something other than _"Huh?"_.

"After we win. Where should we go?" Her eyes were warm and sparkling with amusement as she looked at him.

"O-oh, right. Wherever you want!" Tony seemed to realize what was really happening now and he smiled triumphantly.

"..." Kaede thought for a moment. "I want fried rice. From that little J.C. restuarant on Gold Stage." It wasn't because Kaede loved fried rice, it just seemed like the proper thing to eat after you walked away from a big victory.

"I don't think they serve fried rice." Tony frowned.

"We'll ask them nicely." Kaede nearly purred. _Purred! _It definitely got Tony's attention and she could see him swallow nervously as she leaned forward and hooker her arms loosely around his neck. Suddenly it felt very nice to hold the other man like this, even if he was sweating a bit now. She'd often felt like reaching out to hold his hand in the past, during rough times. But with the cameras around, being on duty, she'd always held back.

Thankfully, Tony was an idiot and had started talking like this would be their last chance to ever-

"Excuse me, I'm sorry to interupt you two but Tony should really suit up before it's too late." Pao-lin was smiling fondly at them, a knowing warmth in her eyes as she looked from Tony to Kaede. "And... congratualtions." she added. "It's about time one of you made a move."

Tony began to clear his throat and turn a deeper shade of red as Kaede turned away to hide her face in the man's chest, both of them quite embarassed to have been caught by their senior Hero, Dragon Master. Not that they were doing anything wrong, Kaede reminder herself. Still, had it been _that _obvious that the two of them had been interested in one another, neither making a move for months? Did the other heroes-

She snapped out of her thoughts as Tony returned her embrace, closing his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. "She's right. I should get my work clothes on." he said, and Kaede could tell he was smiling. "Let's beat the crap out of this guy, smile for the cameras of HeroTV, and have a nice dinner together later."

"It's a date." she nodded, smiling up at him.

* * *

"_Daddy!" _Kaede watched as her sweet, four year old daughter took off ahead of her, running into the arms of her father. She watched with love in her eyes as her husband scooped the girl up into his arms with ease, holding her to his side as his eyes locked with hers. Kaede felt proud that she could still make the man blush from time to time by just staring at him. Now was one of those times.

Tony walked up to her as Hikari began to point at the griffon high above, saying "Make him move, Daddy! Make the kitty move! I want to see it!" She was well aware of her father's abilities, how he could manipulate objects with his NEXT power. It was something they had just shared with her a few months ago after she'd caught him cleaning up the play room by moving the toys... without touching them. That had been a fun day. Trying to explain to a child that, 'No honey, your toys aren't alive, I'm sorry. Your father's just a careless idiot.' Though it had all been worded differently during the official conversation.

Tony looked up towards the sky to see the griffon statue, noticing that it looked as fierce as ever, even if part of its muzzle was gone. He smiled sadly as he turned away from it, meeting Kaede's eyes. "You told her?"

"Not really." she shrugged. "She wanted to know why it was missing part of its face and I told her... it's because of you."

Hikari was squirming impatiently in her father's arms. "Move iiiiiiit!" she cried dramatically, pointing up at the statue with all her might as though she could do it herself if she tried hard enough.

Tony gave his daughter's back a light pat before turning all of his attention to Kaede, looking at her expectantly. Normally he would have been more distracted by the way his daughter seemed so fascinated by his power, but there were clearly other things on his mind. Kaede supposed she couldn't blame him.

"Well?" he urged her, leaning closer as though the conversation were for their ears only. Just them. Their family. "What did the doctor say, Kaede?"

It was killing her to try and stay so calm when all she wanted to do was scream up at the sky. Her eyes must have given her away because Tony began to grin.

"The doctor said it's a boy." she finally answered, smiling excitedly.

She let out a little squeak when Tony suddenly hooked his free arm around her waist and began to spin them all around in a circle. "A boy! We're having a boy!" he exclaimed with excitement, squeezing Kaede and Hikari into a tight hug. Neither of them noticed the soft rumble in the background and the shocked gasps of those around them.

"It moved! It moved! The kitty moved! He's looking down at us!" Hikari gasped.

They both paused for a moment and slowly followed the gaze of their daughter, and of those around them, up towards the griffon atop Apollon Media... which was indeed now looking down at them. As though the griffon had overheard the news and was congratulating them.

"Uh.. that wasn't me. I swear." Tony said quietly.

Kaede swallowed. "My bad. I must have done it by accident after we touched."

She frowned up at the man when he began to laugh. Then she slowly joined him, laughing and holding onto him and Hikari in a tight embrace, her precious family. And they were going to have another baby in the near future.

She felt Tony kiss her cheek, and watched him as he turned to do the same to Hikari, causing the girl to giggle. "You're going to have a little brother. What do you think about that?" he asked her.

"I'm going to protect him!" she smiled, her eyes burning with determination. The way Hikari's eyes were so expressive had always reminded Kaede of her father. "And I'll play games with him. And teach him things. And I'll tell him not to open Daddy's toys because they're... col-lect-i-bles."

"Very good!" said Tony, giving the girl another peck on the cheek. He turned back to Kaede again, and this time it was her turn to blush under the man's stare. It was the same warm, loving, _proud_ look he'd given her the first time she'd announced being pregnant with Hikari. "Have you told your dad yet?" he asked.

"N-no, not yet. I think I'll wait and tell him in person this time and not over the phone again. He drove out into oncoming traffic when I told him I was pregnant last time." Luckily no one had gotten hurt during that incident. "But I'll tell him tonight."

"Invite him over for dinner. We'll celebrate." Tony suggested to her, and before he could finish, Kaede spoke.

"And we'll have fried rice." she said.

"Yeah." he smiled. The two of them were sharing a quiet moment together, thinking of the past, the present, and the future all at once.

In his arms, Hikari cried out in dismay. "Nooo, not fried rice again!"


End file.
